I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Stanford.
My research interests include, the development and institutionalization of legislatures in Africa; the political economy of resource management and development; elections and governance; and political stability and security in Sub-Saharan Africa.
My main region of focus is eastern and southern Africa.
I am a proud alum of Mang’u High School and got my BA from Yale. I am a native of the beautiful city of Nairobi.
You can also find me on twitter.
In my spare time I like to travel, read and write. I love trains.
I am also a columnist for the Saturday Standard and a partner at IPRE Group.
I stumbled on ur blog n I like ur articles. Just to confirm, r u a Mang’u alumni?ur name does sound very familiar, u may not knw me ‘coz i was a year behind u.nway,u keep up ur work n congratz.
Yes, I am a Mang’u man. I was in OB. Thanks!
Great.was in kenyatta n now in jkuat 3rd year.wat r u pursuin at stanford?
sema opalo,
i happened to get to ur blog en like ur work. keep it up
ots.
I’m desperately craving more information about Africa in the news so I was delighted to stumble upon your blog! Greetings from Ireland
ken, a great approach to synthesize our political malaise. keep it up!
Good work.
I hope to keep reading your insights and thoughts on these and more issues.
sema Ken? keep up the good work. Chris
Thanks Chris. I hope all is well with you.
Ken
Hello. I’m a frequent reader of your blog. I was wondering whether it would be possible to get my blog on your blog roll?
Here’s my blog http://www.ghafla.co.ke/news .
Kind regards,
Ghafla!Guy
Done.
Thanks Ken
This caught me by surprise…. I did not know you had a blog. Nice work. I am so proud of you. Inbox me on FB so that we can catch up.
I have to say…. i am surprised to see u majored in political science. I never saw u as a politics person. I just finished my bachelors in Legal Studies and i am currently pursuing an MBA in international management which i am finishing this summer. I am scheduled to start my Law school in August. I have been accepted to several schools but i have not yet decided which school as i am still waiting for several scholarship decisions due by end of March. Visit my website at http://www.paralegalandnotaryservices.com to see what i have been upto.
Can you please contact me by e-mail? I have a question.
Good stuff Ken, I am proud of you.
I’ve always silently followed your web presence (do I hear a scream, STALKER!). I like the redesign of the site. A proud Mang’uman myself (which pride though, wavers in the face of the hatred that I had for the Deputy Principle during my time) glad to see you going places.
One of my earliest memorable moments in Mang’u was my first day as a “nyani” in “Maths Club”, of which you were the chairperson if my memory serves me right? I will not delve into the details seeing as “my thoughts” are turning into a term paper (!)
Suffice is to say I will soon (fingers crossed, and crossed over again) be graduating with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and Computational Math. The Aero was always in me, but the math I picked from an admiration of you and the bespectacled Brother Raymond captain whose name I completely blank on, and of course your namesake Kennedy Opala who was my classmate and sat behind me for the last 2 years of high school.
We’re a long way since Mang’u but I hope to see you one day, maybe even work with you. You were, still are, a hero of mine.
I wish you the best in your endeavours.
Jishinde Ushinde!
Ken, let me know when you are completed with your exams. I may consider you as a keynote speaker during my book launch later next month, that is if we share the same vision over my project. Details will follow once the last-minute preparations with the publisher are done. Regards.
Ken
Nice to catch up with your blog
Hello Ken,
I direct a NGO, Global Ethos, in Limuru. We are bringing some much needed attention to the plight of the boy child in Kenya. I’d like to get your thoughts on the subject. We will begin working with Thigio Boys and Ngenia High School in the coming months. I will travel to Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy and Urban Prep to study their programs. I’m not sure all the Lord will do but I know He will give us the way forward. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Johnson
dj4going@yahoo.com
Hello Ken:
Just found out about your blog while perusing the web. I would like to contact you offline, and my email address is feedback@okromouth.com.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Ben
In your article “Give Kagame a Break,” your quote from African Arguments is actually a misquote. The actual quote, copied and pasted, is: “When a similar situation occurred in Sierra Leone, the Special Court for Sierra Leone went after the main supporters and funders of the rebel movement, in particular the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. ”
Charles Taylor was tried by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, not the International Criminal Court.
Hi Ken,
I reside in Nairobi and write for a website called urb.im which I think you might be interested in checking out. We are a worldwide platform that explores urban poverty-related issues and generates discussions over positive initiatives and developments in the field of urban poverty reduction.
This is the link: http://urb.im/
Oh and feel free to join any of the ongoing conversations or write about us if you want
Katy,
Thanks for your comment. Is there any particular issue/aspect of your operations that you would want me to write about?
Ken
Hi Ken,
Thank you for getting back to me and forgive me for my late response! Funnily enough I am in Palo Alto visiting family at the moment so if you are in Stanford we are in fact quite geographically near.
In answer to your question, given the focus of your blog, it would be interesting for me to know how from the point of view of a Kenyan academic you view the work we do on urb.im and what impact you believe an operation like ours can have on alleviating urban poverty in a place like Nairobi.
We recently had an article on us published in the huffington post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-durham/nairobi-urban-slums_b_2360273.html) which clearly outlines what we do an its relevance in a Nairobi context.
It would be great if you would like to share your views on this either via your own blog or by commenting on an article on the website that you find relevant to your work (or even better writing the article and then joining our community to become a regular commentator!).
We are in fact looking for regular bloggers so if this is something that would interest you please drop me a line.
Many options, I know… let me know if any appeal to you!
Nice to read from a Mangu old boy. Was in Mangu many years ago and proud of the Mangu alumni across the world.
Hello Ken, how do I email you? I just followed you on twitter.
Kopalo@ stanford.edu
Great work…keep up
Ken, i have to admit that i hadn’t read your blog till a few days ago. You have a grasp of the facts and happenings in our Great country. Keep it up. Will possibly be at Stanford for a summer fellowship end of July, will look you up. As a former Cal Grad…its painful as you would know:) Anyway, i also run a website, http://www.ipaidabribe.or.ke and would love if you could highlight it on your blog roll.
Take care and keep up the goodwork.
Nice blog!
Your name was strangely familiar; I think you were either featured or mentioned in newspapers after I finished primary or high school. You were brilliant and by the look of things you haven’t changed!
This entire BLOG reads like a TNA / KANU / Mt. Kenya Mafia propaganda outfit. I sure hope they are paying you tons of money for this. Else if you wish to be a successful academic or respected professional, this blog is a nail in the coffin of such dreams #disappointed